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How to thwart cats

A question for cat owners: I just had to send my BAT VK-300x integrated amp back to BAT for what I assumed was a warranty repair after having it for 3 months--it had begun spitting out white noise and then sent sparks out the top grill. It turns out in fact that it was full of cat hair and--putting it as discreetly as possible--other cat-related material, which had caused it to short out. The cats have long used my audio gear as a sort of large, centrally heated cat bed, but those days have now ended. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep cats off your gear?

I keep the VK in a rack , with about 4" of clearance from the shelf above--it would be easy enough to add a piece of nonresonant material underneath it to reduce the clearance and thereby catproof it, but I'm wondering about the other components too.

Any thoughts? And no, throttling the cat responsible is not an option.
bradgregg
tabl10s's avatar
tabl10s
1,077 posts
 
Audphile1
Your story reminds me of this guy in Vegas who thought he was cool walking around with his Parrot on his shoulder. He didn't know that the bird had crapped down the left side of his back.
tabl10s's avatar
tabl10s
1,077 posts
 
Brad
If they aren't "Show" cats and you live in a house, put them outside when you're not home.
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
There's more than one way to skin a cat ------ use them all.
audiavreseller
30 posts
 
You need to find shelves that can be elevated out of the reach of pets and children. Audiav Furniture does this. There is only one manufacturer that actually lets you do this. I had to figure a way to keep my daughter, Audia, from getting into my gear and developed a line that coincided. I am suprised there are not more designs out there to solve this problem. Good luck!
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rhyno
649 posts
 
cats hate the smell of citrus. try laying oranges or spraying orange-flavored furniture polish on teh floor around your gear, and then use catnip in the areas that are ok for them to frequent (use scent as a negative / positive deterrent).

prior posts on duct tape, foil, squirt bottle, balloons (or other jarring loud noises, which cats hate) will also prove very effective.

and try to keep things out of their reach
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